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Milton Friedman and Ted Cruz on Good Governance – Cut Spending

Stephen Moore, of the Wall Street Journal, asked Milton Friedman, prior to his death in 2006, what would make America more prosperous. Instantly, Friedman replied. "Three things - promote free trade, school choice for all children, and cut government spending."

When Moore inquired about the size of the spending cuts, Friedman answered, "As much as possible.”

Free trade and school choice are indeed very important. However, cutting spending is of paramount importance. The more government spends. The more government must tax. More taxes reduce personal spending, investment, and choices. As a result, excessive government spending restricts economic growth and personal freedom. Stephen Moore explains;

If the government spends a dollar, that dollar has to come from producers and workers in the private economy. There is no magical "multiplier effect" by taking from productive Peter and giving to unproductive Paul. As obvious as that insight seems, it keeps being put to the test.

Moore laments that Friedman is not alive to combat Obama’s big spending. Fortunately, a few politicians – Paul Ryan, Jim DeMint, Jeff Flake, Mike Lee and others – know spending must be substantially cut. Recently, Ted Cruz of Texas won the Republican Senatorial nomination on a strong platform to cut spending. Most importantly, Cruz forcefully called for reducing government spending and debt...and it was only his primary victory!

"I am perfectly happy to compromise and work with anybody, Republicans, Democrats, libertarians, I'll work with Martians, if - and the "if" is critical - they are willing to cut spending and reduce the debt."

Similar to Friedman, Ted Cruz knows that in order to restore freedom and prosperity government spending must be cut”as much as possible.” Increasingly, most Americans sense that the federal government is too big, too intrusive, too corrupt and too incompetent and cutting spending is essential to restore prosperity and freedom. Hence, the “cut spending” message energized thousands of Texans to campaign and vote for Cruz. Matt Kibbe, CEO of FreedomWorks, observed in Politico:

Academically, Milton Friedman and a small cadre of intellectuals – generally known as the Chicago Boys and the Austrian School - explained the benefits of limiting government spending. Additionally, the “less spending” message was tested and explained by conservative and libertarian think-tanks. Eventually, the message reached more and more Americans. Today, most Americans are seeking and demanding less government. Cruz, the Senate candidate, embraced “cutting spending,” and connected with his fellow Texans. We the People see how incompetent and corrupt our governance is and need to be corrected.

An educated people are and always will be the greatest tool in a democracy. Disintermediation politics, empowering individuals from the bottom up, without centralized planning, is the future of U.S. politics and the only conceivable way that “We the People” can take back our seat at the table as citizen shareholders of our government.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - The First Amendment of the Constitution

I am an Chinese immigrant who come to America to seek freedom from the Communist China. I was born right before China’s Cultural Revolution and grew up in Chengdu, Capitol of Sichuan province, China. As you know, in China there is only one party that is truly in power: The Communist Party. The government, which is the Communist Party, controls everything: Factories, schools, the press, hospitals, land, and universities. Growing up there, I never heard of such a thing as a “private company." There were no choices of any sort. We were all poor. We had no gas or stove, no TV, no phones, no refrigerators, and no washing machines. In the cities, electricity was rationed. In the countryside, there was no electricity.

A Modest Proposal to Save Children from The War on PovertyThe War on Poverty is fifty years old. Observing the semi-centennial, liberals and conservatives are arguing if the hundreds of programs and the trillions of dollars have actually reduced poverty. Most of the statics and fallacies are merely continuing propaganda for incompetently formulated federal programs – conservative and liberal. What is certain and ingloriously ignored is the millions of children being neglected and destroyed by The War on Poverty.

There are a lot of reasons that parents choose the schools that they do for their children. For some parents, it is a clear decision, for some, it is a decision which is agonized over. The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice recently released a study on the factors that go into these decisions, and the answers might surprise you.

Democracy and Power 103: Government MoneyIn general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. —Voltaire (1764)Politicians transfer money from productive people to favored special interest groups.

It's no secret that former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, has had a tremendous influence on young Americans. His message of fiscal responsibility and promotion of civil liberties is loud a clear. The youth are ready to bring real reform to government and are trying every way possible to influence their representatives, but where do they have the most influence? The Ron Paul Revolution, which started as a small, yet powerful, idea has sparked an even bigger reform: the transformation of the Republican Party.

Democracy and Power 101: Government is PowerThe .. essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. —James Madison, speech in the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830

The Marketplace Fairness Act would subject retailers to sales tax audits from 50 different states and tax laws of nearly 10,000 local tax authorities. Proponents of this bill claim that this levels the playing field between internet merchants, such as Ebay or Amazon with brick and mortar retailers like Walmart or Best Buy. Critics point out that it only boosts the tax bill for America’s consumers and allows state governments to tax businesses not within their jurisdiction.

Personal Freedom and Prosperity 110: The Rule of LawA government with moral and legal authority promulgates written rules and universally, impartially and uniformly enforces those rules, which provides a predictable and stable legal order to base economic and personal decisions. The law prevails, not the proclamation or arbitrary decision of a ruler, government bureaucrat, the enforcer (e.g., policeman) or judge.